H.Res.1769 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that in order to undermine the Taliban and their terrorist allies, the policy of the United States should support the recognition of Afghanistan's ethnic diversity, promoting mutual respect between various communities and regions of the country and bringing democracy closer to the people of Afghanistan by supporting constitutional change that recognizes and enables a democratic, decentralized, federal structure to replace the present failed centralized system of government, providing a political structure that reflects the diversity of the country and that builds trust and goodwill among Afghanistan's many communities.111th Congress (2009-2010)

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Shown Here:Introduced in House (12/15/2010)

111th CONGRESS2d Session

H. RES. 1769

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that in order to undermine the Taliban and their terrorist allies, the policy of the United States should support the recognition of Afghanistan’s ethnic diversity, promoting mutual respect between various communities and regions of the country and bringing democracy closer to the people of Afghanistan by supporting constitutional change that recognizes and enables a democratic, decentralized, federal structure to replace the present failed centralized system of government, providing a political structure that reflects the diversity of the country and that builds trust and goodwill among Afghanistan’s many communities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 15, 2010

Mr. Rohrabacher (for himself and Mr. King of Iowa) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that in order to undermine the Taliban and their terrorist allies, the policy of the United States should support the recognition of Afghanistan’s ethnic diversity, promoting mutual respect between various communities and regions of the country and bringing democracy closer to the people of Afghanistan by supporting constitutional change that recognizes and enables a democratic, decentralized, federal structure to replace the present failed centralized system of government, providing a political structure that reflects the diversity of the country and that builds trust and goodwill among Afghanistan’s many communities.

Whereas Afghanistan is a diverse country of minorities, including Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, Turkmens, Aimaq, Baluch, and Nuristani;

Whereas decades of civil war and more than a century of repression and discrimination in Afghanistan has resulted in distrust, fear, and extremism;

Whereas supporting highly centralized political structures in Afghanistan has led to widespread abuse, discrimination, corruption, and lack of local participation and support;

Whereas the Taliban, aligned with al Qaeda, during their reign of terror in Afghanistan intensified policies of ethnic retribution and discrimination particularly against the peoples of northern Afghanistan;

Whereas the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies viewed ethnic diversity and political pluralism as the greatest threat to their political domination and extremist beliefs;

Whereas the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies, after having brutally repressed Afghanistan’s diverse cultures and peoples, particularly the non-Pashtun peoples, launched a global terrorist war aimed particularly at the United States, leading to the attacks on September 11, 2001;

Whereas the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies were defeated by an alliance of the northern peoples of Afghanistan, mostly Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazaras fighting for their freedom and supported by a small number of United States Special Forces and directed air attacks by the United States Air Force;

Whereas the defeat of the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies in northern Afghanistan led to the collapse of the terrorist Taliban regime and the end to Taliban and al Qaeda repression and terrorism;

Whereas in defeating the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies, thousands of brave fighters from northern Afghanistan were killed but only one United States citizen lost his life in the North, demonstrating that the people of Afghanistan were willing and able to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda when they were fighting for their families, homes, and freedom;

Whereas the vital role of Afghanistan’s diverse ethnic communities in defeating extremism and establishing a stable Afghanistan free of ethnic prejudice was ignored by the international community, which instead insisted on a highly centralized and personalized form of government, repeating the mistakes of the past;

Whereas western support for a flawed constitutional process which concentrated power in the hands of the President including the direct appointment without confirmation or consultation of all local, district, and provincial officials, including mayors, governors, and police chiefs, rejecting the basic democratic principle of local communities electing their own leaders;

Whereas by supporting a highly centralized government in Kabul, the mistakes of the past have been repeated, including during the Communist and nationalist periods, leading to massive corruption, abuse of power, ethnic discrimination, and the disconnection and alienation of the people of Afghanistan from their government; and

Whereas nine years of efforts to build a national police force and national military to protect Afghanistan have fallen victim to a failed centralized political system and the widespread corruption and cronyism it engenders, resulting in involvement of ever more United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ground forces and financial resources, from no more than 5,000 troops eight years ago to 150,000 troops today: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved,That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that—

(1) the United States Government should—

(A) engage in broadening the regional dialogue on Afghanistan to include countries that have been supportive of the United States effort to defeat the Taliban such as India, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan;

(B) support and encourage a democratic decentralized federal political system in Afghanistan that shifts more power to regions, provinces, and districts, recognizes Afghanistan’s ethnic regional and cultural diversity and promotes mutual respect, trust, and goodwill between the various ethnic communities and regions of the country;

(C) support urgent constitutional reform that will enable local, district, and provincial election of mayors, police chiefs, and governors which would bring democracy closer to the people of Afghanistan and encourage trust between Afghanistan’s different ethnic groups;

(D) support the establishment of trained and properly regulated regional militias as well as a national army to fight the Taliban insurgency, particularly utilizing the natural allies of the United States who helped defeat the Taliban in 2001 in order to enable the reduction of the number of United States troops;

(E) undermine the extremism of the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies and their insurgency by drawing the people of Afghanistan back into the fight by supporting a government that truly represents them; and

(F) actively oppose the inclusion of the Taliban in the Government of Afghanistan; and

(2) the United States should abandon its support for the present failed centralized system of government that has led to enormous corruption, the abuse of power, the growing drug trade, ethnic domination which has enabled extremism, and a growing insurgency to take root again and require enormous, decades more commitment in troops and treasure.